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Primary Source Packet 1. Diary, Sei Shônagon 1 Sei Shônagon, a Lady

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Primary Source Packet 1. Diary, Sei Shônagon 1 Sei Shônagon, a lady in waiting to Empress Teishi (or Sadako), left a journal of anecdotes, impressions, and commentary called The Pillowbook (covering the years 986- 1000 C.E.) that has become a valuable source for the court society and cultural life of the Heian Period. Sei’s description of natural scenes and phenomena are admired for their vividness and subtlety, their both poetic and painterly evocation of lighting and color, temperature and the tactile. It is a product of a life style lived in wooden residences surrounded by verandas, and whose walls were panels and latticed screens that could be opened up to the outside, bringing the sights, sounds, and scents of nature into the inside. The first passage below in effect taught the specific appeal of each of the four seasons for the rest of Japanese cultural history. The particularly close and subtle appreciation of nature within daily life is one of the most important legacies of Heian women’s writing to Japanese culture. Source: Morris, Ivan, trans., The Pillowbook of Sei Shônagon. London: Penguin Books, 1971. The Beauty of the Seasons In spring it is the dawn that is most beautiful. As the light creeps over the hills, their outlines are dyed a faint red and wisps of purplish cloud trail over them. In summer the nights. Not only when the moon shines, but on dark nights too, as the fireflies flit to and fro, and even when it rains, how beautiful it is! In autumn the evenings, when the glittering sun sinks close to the edge of the hills and the crows fly back to their nests in threes and fours and twos; more charming still is a file of wild geese, like specks in the distant sky. When the sun has set, one’s heart is moved by the sound of the wind and the hum of the insects. In winter the early mornings. It is beautiful indeed when snow has fallen during the night, but splendid too when the ground is white with frost; or even when there is no snow or frost, but it is simply very cold and the attendants hurry from room to room stirring up the fires and bringing charcoal, how well this fits the season’s mood! But as noon approaches and the cold wears off, no one bothers to keep the braziers alight, and soon nothing remains but piles of white ashes. Rains and Ponds During the long rains in the Fifth Month, there is something very moving about a place with a pond. Between the dense irises, water-oats, and other plants one can see the green of the water; and the entire garden seems to be the same green colour. One stays there all day long, gazing in contemplation at the clouded sky—oh, how moving it is! I am always moved and delighted by places that have ponds—not only in the winter (when I love waking up to find that the water has frozen over) but at every time of the year. The ponds I like best are not those in which everything is carefully laid out; I much prefer one that has been left to itself so that it is wild and covered with weeds. At night in the green spaces of water one can see nothing but the pale glow of the moonlight. At any time and in any place I find moonlight very moving. Snow It is delightful when there has been a thin fall of snow; or again when it has piled up very high and in the evening we sit round a brazier at the edge of the veranda with a few congenial friends, chatting till darkness falls. There is no need for the lamp, since the snow itself reflects a clear light. Raking the ashes in the brazier with a pair of fire-tongs, we discuss all sorts of moving and amusing things. Winds A stormy wind. At dawn, when one is lying in bed with the lattices and panelled doors wide open, the wind suddenly blows into the room and stings one’s face—most delightful. A cold wintry wind. In the Third Month the moist, gentle wind that blows in the evenings moves me greatly. Also moving is the cool, rainy wind in the Eighth and Ninth Months. Streaks of rain are blown violently from the side, and I enjoy watching people cover their stiff robes of unlined silk with the padded coats that they put away after the summer rains. Towards the end of the Ninth Month and the beginning of the Tenth the sky is clouded over, there is a strong wind, and the yellow leaves fall gently to the ground, especially from the cherry trees and the elms. All this produces a most pleasant sense of melancholy. In the Tenth Month I love gardens that are full of trees. 2. Diary, Sei Shônagon 2 Sei Shônagon, a lady in waiting to Empress Teishi (or Sadako), left a journal of anecdotes, impressions, and commentary called The Pillowbook (covering the years 986- 1000) that has become a valuable source for the court society and cultural life of the Heian Period. By the Heian period, the gender parity that is believed to have existed in ancient times was giving way to a system of male domination. Particularly with the adoption of the Chinese bureaucratic system, all offices and ranks were designated for males, with only a few exceptions for the Handmaids’ Office in the Palace. Ambitious women like Sei Shônagon decried the lack of offices women could aspire to and expressed envy of the honor and respect men garner when they are promoted through the hierarchy. Source: Morris, Ivan, trans., The Pillowbook of Sei Shônagon. London: Penguin Books, 1971. Women and High Office At long last a man has received the governorship for which he has been waiting. He looks radiantly happy. In the past everyone treated him with rudeness and disdain; but, painful as it was, he bore it all patiently, realizing that he had no choice. Now even his superiors respect the man and play up to him with remarks like, “I am entirely at Your Excellency’s service.” He is attended by women and surrounded by elegant furnishings and clothing that he has never known before. Seeing all this, one wonders whether he can really be the same man whom even simple servants used to scorn. Then this fortunate governor is appointed Middle Captain in the Inner Palace Guards. Oh, what a triumphant look he has on his face! To be a captain of the Guards seems far grander to him than it would to a young nobleman who received the same appointment. High office is, after all, a most splendid thing. A man who holds the Fifth Rank or who serves as Gentleman-in-Waiting is liable to be despised; but when this same man becomes a Major Counsellor, Great Minister, or the like, one is overawed by him and feels that nothing in the world could be as impressive. Of course even a provincial governor has a position that should impress one; for after serving in several provinces, he may be appointed Senior Assistant Governor-General and promoted to the Fourth Rank, and when this happens the High Court Nobles themselves appear to regard him with respect. After all, women really have the worse time of it. There are, to be sure, cases where the nurse of an Emperor is appointed Assistant Attendant or given the Third Rank and thus acquires great dignity. Yet it does her little good since she is already an old woman. Besides, how many women ever attain such honours? Those who are reasonably well born consider themselves lucky if they can marry a governor and go down to the provinces. Of course it does sometimes happen that the daughter of a commoner becomes the principal consort of a High Court Noble and that the daughter of a High Court Noble becomes an Empress. Yet even this is not as splendid as when a man rises by means of promotions. How pleased such a man looks with himself! 3. Diary, Sei Shônagon 3 Sei Shônagon, a lady in waiting to Empress Teishi (or Sadako), left a journal of anecdotes, impressions, and commentary called The Pillowbook (covering the years 986- 1000) that has become a valuable source for the court society and cultural life of the Heian Period. For a Heian lady, service at court was the sphere for pursuing a career, the stage where she could develop and display her social and aesthetic talents and accomplishments. Not all fathers, however, allowed their daughters to enter court. The reasons no doubt had to do with the opinions Sei reveals below about the alleged immodesty and wickedness of court ladies. It is interesting to note that Sei accuses the men of the same immodesty, seeming to imply that if the conventional gender segregation is breached at court, it is done so by both men and women. The majority of noblewomen remained at home as wives, some of whom might have court connections and participate, through correspondence, in the cultural life there. Source: Morris, Ivan, trans., The Pillowbook of Sei Shônagon. London: Penguin Books, 1971. Service at Court When I make myself imagine what it is like to be one of those women who live at home, faithfully serving their husbands—women who have not a single exciting prospect in life yet who believe that they are perfectly happy—I am filled with scorn.
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